i sleep so i can see you

croissants and computers

I grumbled as I flipped over in my bed, checking the clock beside me I discovered it was 9:31am. Great, three hours of sleep. I knew I had to get up, the rest of my family would be eating breakfast already, I was expected to be there. I sat on the edge of my bed, rubbing my eyes, trying to process what happened. Did I dream it all? No, that actually happened.
We didn't kiss or anything, we just...hung out. And I loved it. I sluggishly stood up and drew my curtains open, letting the bright sunlight enter my room, temporarily blinding me. I grabbed my silk robe off my chair and tied it around me, so I wasn't walking around in a tank top and underwear, as I exited my room, making my way into the grand dining room.

"Goodmorning Val, did you sleep well?" My dad spoke from behind his newspaper, I took a seat in my usual spot, at the top left corner of the table, opposite my mother.

"Yeah, fine." I yawned. My brother Rico tugged at me sleeve, he was six years old, clever, but cunning, and he always sat next to me at breakfast. "Mhm?" I turned to him. He gestured to under the table, to which I shifted my gaze. He opened his hand, revealing a small frog inside.

I shook my head, making sure I was seeing this properly. I shouldn't be surprised though, he was always pulling stunts like this. "What are you going to do with it?" I whispered.

"Put it in Bruno's food hehehe." He chuckled softly. I shook my head. Bruno was eight, he was loud and bossy, but also smart for his age.

"Why don't you keep it in your room with Johnny?" I suggested. Johnny was his other frog he found in the garden last month.

"Cause he wants to go in Bruno's food." He narrowed his eyes at our brother Bruno across the table, who was eating his food without a care in the world.

"Val?" My younger sister Filippa, who we all called Finne, spoke up. She was fifteen, usually very quiet, but she was smart. She knew more than what she seemed to know, about everything.

"Yeah?" I replied, digging into the fresh eggs and toast the butler brought out to me.

"What are you gonna be for the dress up party? Any ideas?" She asked.

"Nothing yet, haven't thought that far ahead." I told her.

"I'm gonna be a cowboy." Our other brother, Alois, announced to everyone. He was 11, always reading a book, his book he brought to breakfast today was about cowboys.

"Your mother and I are dress as Christine and The Phantom." My father folded up his newspaper.

"I'm gonna be a bunny!" My youngest sister, Claire spoke up. She was three, and I adored her, but she was born at a point in my life where I wanted to be anywhere except home, so I never really bonded with her. My parents had six children, and I loved all my siblings, I really did, but I never bonded with them the way I had with my older sister, who was dead. A part of me left me left with her, so I think that was why I found it so hard to bond with my younger siblings.

"You are gonna be upstairs, darling. With Celeste, Rico, and Bruno." My father spoke up, Celeste was one of the maids who took care of my younger siblings. "You're going to be getting a new present to play with, all of you." I watched my siblings faces light up, I already knew what they were getting. Claire was getting a dollhouse, Rico was getting a racetrack, and Bruno was getting new action figures.

"Aunty Lara is coming tomorrow." My mother announced, my eyes widened and a smile grew on my face, along with my siblings, who Claire and Rico cheered. Aunty Lara was my dad's sister, she was serious, sweet, and cool. So cool. She had a confident demeanor about her, and was intimidating without having to say anything. Honestly, I aspired to be like her.